Son Gohan: Champion of Earth
by TheCriminalWhirlwindXIII
Summary: When Goku refused to come back to life for his friends and family at the end of the Cell Tournament, It caused a chain of events that would change Gohan's life. With a new purpose to surpass the previous champion of the planet he loves, How will Gohan fair as the new protector of the Earth? Will he be able to rise to the challenge or will he crash and burn? AU
1. Promise in the Rain

XII: Hello everyone, my name is TheCriminalWhirlwindXIII and we must chat. This Fanfiction originally belonged to RainthelingeringSentiment. He had lost the will to continue it and with his permission, I was allowed to adopt it from him along with another Fanfiction of his that I really enjoyed so here it is, my version of… ** _Son Gohan: Champion of Earth_**

* * *

 ** _Summary:_** When Goku refused to come back to life for his friends and family at the end of the Cell Tournament, It caused a chain of events that would change Gohan's life. With a new purpose to surpass the previous champion of the planet he loves, How will Gohan fair as the new protector of the Earth? Will he be able to rise to the challenge or will he crash and burn? AU

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 ** _Pairings:_** Gohan/Videl/?

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 ** _Genre: _** Drama, Action, angst and Romance

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 ** _Rating:_** Rated M

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 ** _Disclaimer:_** I wish I owned DBZ but alas, I don't.

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 ** _Son Gohan: Champion of Earth_**

 ** _Prologue: Promise in the Rain_**

"I'm sorry guys but I'm not coming back…"

A battered and weakened Gohan glanced up at his father's image with a look of shock on his face.

What did he mean he wasn't coming back? His father had to come back. His mother was waiting for the both of them to come home after this.

Gohan then started to laugh at this, causing everyone to look at him in confusion.

It had to be a joke.

His father was always the jokester so this time shouldn't be different.

There was no way that his father would leave his mother, himself and all of their friends again.

There was no way his father could just leave them like that.

It seemed like Krillen was on the same mindset because the bald monk chuckled and said "Stop joking around and bring your butt down here Goku,.

But to his horror, Gohan watched his father shake his head slowly and said "This is no joke old friend. I'm not coming back."

Goku wasn't coming back to Earth.

And Gohan felt that it was his fault.

"Father! You can't do this!" Gohan spoke up, trying to keep the sorrow from his voice.

He watched as Goku gave him a saddened frown and reply "I'm sorry Gohan but it has to be this way…"

"Is it because of me that you're leaving? Because I didn't defeat Cell when I had the chance?" Gohan asked, his vision becoming blurry due to the unshed tears within them.

"Of course not!" Goku said with shock in his voice. "You may have lost your way during that battle but in the end you did defeat him…No, the real reason I'm leaving because all of this is my fault..."

Now Gohan was really confused.

His fault?

How could it be his fault?

Luckily, Goku was quick in giving an explanation.

"When I was younger, I defeated the Red Ribbon Army and showed in mercy to them. In turn, Doctor Gero created the androids and Cell to kill me, with the latter succeeding…"

Gohan watched Goku's image close his eyes and continue with "As long as I live, Every life on Earth will never be safe. Villains will continue to pop out of the woodworks to fight me and all of you would get in the way and as much as I want to stay here with you all, I don't want to see you guys hurt anymore…"

"That's bullshit!" Gohan exclaimed, shocking everyone around him. He knew that he was always proper and refrained from cursing but this was one of those moments that he needed to bust one out.

"Even without you, there are always villains that are targeting earth for one reason or another! Garlic Jr and his crew, the Saiyans, Lord Slug and his entire army, Doctor Wheelo and Turles and his crew! They all attacked earth, not for you but for some other reason and we happened to be there!" Gohan argued.

"Gohan," Goku started but Gohan wasn't going to stop now with what he had to say.

"No father, you can't sit there and say that the world will stop being in danger with you dead!" Gohan yelled furiously, his eyes flashing teal for a moment.

But to Gohan's anger, Goku shook his head and said "I still can't take the chance Gohan...I'd rather be gone than have any of you die because of my enemies… "

Gohan watched as Goku gave a bright smile down towards him. "Besides, I can train with King Kai in the otherworld to get stronger."

"There is more to life than training! I need a father, my mother needs her husband! Our friends need you! Don't do this!" Gohan begged angrily.

Goku's image began to fade which caused Gohan to scream out "Damn it father, don't do this!"

 _"_ _Goodbye Gohan…Tell your mother that I love her…"_

Gohan screamed out in fury, causing the slowly fading image of Goku to look at him in surprise before he said "You can tell her that yourself! Just come back! Don't leave us here without you!"

 _"_ _I'll be watching after you all….I'll be back one day but until then…See you guys next time!"_ And those were the lasts words Goku said before he completely disappeared, leaving an angered and distraught Gohan behind.

Goku had left them here once again and to make it worse….Goku's tone was as the happy, loveable goof that he was instead of a tone of sadness and guilt that he should have been saying it.

Gohan could feel everyone staring at him as he fell to his knees but he refused to shed anymore tears.

"Gohan…"

He could feel Krillen's hand on his right shoulder but Gohan didn't respond to his honorary uncle's voice. Instead, Gohan slowly rose up to his feet and took a small breath before giving a sad smile to Krillen and saying "I need to get home to tell mom the bad news…I'll catch you guys later, ok?"

He didn't wait for an answer because with a charge of his blue energy, Gohan flew off of the lookout and flew away as slowly as possible. It just wasn't fair to him. He didn't want to do this to his mom. She had gone through so much since Goku died the first time and it felt as if she would never get a respite from all of this stress.

Especially now that he would have to repeat the very same words he had given her so many times before.

 _"_ _Mom...We managed to save everyone but Dad he….He's gone…"_

The last time he had to give her those words was when he was gone for a year and a half after his battle with Frieza and she had been inconsolable.

Every day, she would try and keep it together for him but at the end of the day when he was trying to rest for the next day, he could hear her try to stifle her sobs with her pillow.

For a year and a half, he had to deal with his mother crying her heart out for his father and he knew that once he was done talking to her tonight, those tears would begin anew.

And this time, he didn't know if they would ever truly stop.

And just then, It began to rain….

* * *

 ** _Son Gohan_**

 ** _Son Residence_**

It was pouring heavily when Gohan finally landed on the side of his house and the young savior of the earth found himself more nervous than he had been when he was fighting Cell and with good reason.

When he peeked through his house window, he saw streamers and balloons and tons of other decorations hanging from the walls and there was also a banner that read "Welcome home" on it but it was the sight of his messy mom, sleeping on the table that had tons of food for all three of them sitting around her as she slept.

 _'_ _Oh mom…'_ Gohan thought to himself sadly.

It was clear that she was working on this little surprise while everyone was off fighting for the fate of the world and knowing that she made this for both him and his father had caused his heart to clench.

He knew that when he walked into the house, she would be super happy that he and his father had come home alive but then he would tell her those familiar words that she would be dreading to hear and by the time he would be done, she would break down and cry for her husband as he had hours before.

Walking to the front of his house, Gohan rang the doorbell one time and waited and just like he suspected, Chi-Chi opened the door with happiness shining in her eyes but the moment she saw that it was just him, he could almost see the gears in her head turning and then she took a step back, tears forming within her eyes.

"He's gone…." He heard his mother mumble tearfully.

Gohan hadn't even said a word and already she knew what had happened to Goku and it made a tear fall from his eye.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan closed the door behind him and led his mother to the couch and told her everything that had happened and by the time he was done, he simple held his mother as she cried her eyes out for the man that had left them.

After an hour of hearing her cry against him, he found himself putting her in bed and placing the covers around her form.

Gohan glanced down at his sleeping mother and felt tears prickling his eyes as she whimpered her husband's name. _'She looks so weak,'_ Gohan thought to himself softly as he balled up his hands into a tight fist.

His anger soon grew when he watched one last tear fall from her eyes.

To see his powerful, tough, headstrong mother look so small and broken had caused him to finally snap.

How could his father do this?!

How he leave his mother…The woman he called his "Wife" like this? Broken and distraught while he was probably laughing it up with King Kai in the otherworld.

It wasn't just the fact that he had abandoned the two of them once again; it was the fact that he left his mother alone while she was **pregnant**.

His mother was going to surprise both of them when they got home but now that Goku was gone, she tearfully revealed this to Gohan during her bout of crying and it pissed him off to no end that he left his mother in such a miserable state, especially knowing that he was going to have a little sibling!

Sure he was sure that his father didn't know about this development but the fact that he left before hearing this news was truly sickening to the Demi-saiyan.

It was then where Gohan walked out of his mother's room and straight out outside into the rain around him and yelled out "You want to just abandon us here while you train without a care in the world?!"

Gohan was so infuriated about how everything transpired that he changed into a super saiyan as he shouted. "You can stay up there for all I care! I'll protect this world without leaving my friends or my family behind! I swear to you that I'll become a better protector than you ever could!"

"Do you hear me?!" Gohan raged against the storm, the yellow energy around him flaring wildly around his body. "I'll become a better warrior, father, husband, and friend than you ever could! I swear it on everything that I love that I will surpass you!"

Gohan then lowered his head and allowed one last tear to fall from his eyes before he said "And when I do, I'll show you first hand how strong I have become...And that is a promise I will never break."

* * *

XIII: And that's the prologue to my new story **_Son Gohan: Champion of Earth_**. Not much has changed from RainthelingeringSentiment's version but trust me, things will get so much better. So tell me what you guys think and catch you on the flipside!


	2. The Tournament

XIII: Wow, so much love from you guys for that first chapter. I truly appreciate it. I think this one will be a great fan fiction so let us start the show!

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 ** _Son Gohan: Champion of Earth_**

 ** _Chapter One: The Tournament_**

It had been one months since Goku's passing and Gohan's oath in the rain and so far, Gohan had made good on his word.

He had resumed training but it had been slightly hard at first due to Chi-Chi's understandable concern…

* * *

 ** _Flashback_**

 _"Absolutely not! I will not allow you to train! Haven't you seen what it has done to your father?! I will not allow that to happen to my child!"_

 _Gohan let a small sigh leave his lips as he gazed upon the angered eyes of his mother._

 _He knew that what he was asking was pretty bad, especially due to Goku's absence for the same reason but he didn't shy away from this stern glare. If anything, he merely looked at her with caring but sad eyes._

 _"Mom…Sit down for me," Gohan told her gently with a small smile on his face. Chi-Chi stared at him for a moment before nodding and sitting down on the couch next to him where he took her by surprise by hugging her gently which she returned immediately._

 _"I know mom…" He whispered softly against her chest with a small smile "….I know you do not like the idea of me training or fighting…Father did that far too much and in the end, he traded basic social skills for his powers but I won't do that to you. I'm not going to allow myself to become like that...Like him."_

 _Pulling away from his mom, he took her hand and gazed into her eyes and said "I'm not training just to be training, I'm doing this to protect you and my unborn sibling from evil but rest assured mother, I'm not going to give up my studies either. I will not sacrifice all that you taught me. I give you my word as your son that I will study as hard as I train"_

 _Gohan then laughed._

 _"Besides, I need to keep my wits if I'm to support you two."_

 ** _End Flashback_**

* * *

It was those words that convinced his mother to let him continue training but there was a small problem with his training.

Piccolo had decided to retire as his sensei due to him believing that he was no longer suitable to teach Gohan due to the child learning everything from him except Namekian specific techniques.

But thankfully, the Namekian told him that he would always be there to help him no matter what because he was just a thought away and Gohan believed him.

Despite the rough meeting they had, Piccolo had protected him since he was four years old. He saved his life and even gave his life for him so why wouldn't he believe his words?

Despite this surprising setback, this didn't deter Gohan from his quest to become stronger because he knew exactly where to go for training.

His friends.

He decided that if he was going to protect everyone that he cared for, he might as well learned from them and to his surprise, all of them agreed to train him as best as they could.

But with Piccolo retiring as his sensei, Gohan needed someone his caliber to train him once again and found that in the prince of all saiyans.

Unfortunately, Vegeta was not himself…

* * *

 ** _Flashback_**

 _"Unbelievable…The spawn of Kakarot, the savior of the world is asking me to be his sensei…How strange…"_

 _Gohan looked at the depressed saiyan prince with a hint of sadness in his eyes but he dared not show it. He was in Vegeta's home and he was asking for this man to train him and Gohan was not going to show pity to the downed warrior._

 _"Vegeta, I know it's hard to believe but…I always admired your will to become stronger with the tools you are dealt…I know I should be the last person to ask this of you but I…I need help," Gohan responded with a bowed head._

 _Gohan watched as Vegeta's tired eyes glanced at him in thought. "Why not ask the Namekian?" Vegeta asked him._

 _"Because he feels that he can no longer teach me because I have surpassed him in power and because I learned all I could from him," Gohan replied._

 _Vegeta turned his head and stared up at the ceiling above and then asked "Why do you wish for me to train you_

 _Taking a slow breath, Gohan found himself saying with a bitter tone in his voice "I wish to not only show him what I can accomplish without leaving everyone behind to their own devices…But I wish to fight and defeat him with all that I've learned. Not only to show him that he can become stronger without the help of otherworldly warriors….But because he abandoned me and my mother when we needed him most…"_

 _Gohan knew that Vegeta would be surprised by his slow resentment of the man he called "father" and why shouldn't he be?_

 _At one point in time, Gohan would always sing the praises of his father and his prowess as a warrior but since he left, he made sure to leave Gohan with the responsibility to not only protect the entire world but to also protect his mother and his unborn son._

 _It wasn't because of the responsibility that made Gohan slowly resent his father, it was the fact that he left and didn't feel any sorrow from doing it and because every single night, he listened to his mother cry out for him in her sleep or when she thought she was alone but his resentment was also due to what would happen in the future._

 _Gohan knew that once his sibling was born and could speak, those familiar questions of "Where's daddy?" or "Will he come see me?" would begin to pop up which would no doubt upset his mother as well as himself and the child._

 _His father would be missing all of the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries that would be shared between the fatherless family which would no doubt change the excitement of these days into a somber one._

 _And for what?_

 _Some skewered sense of responsibility and training._

 _But the worst part of it all was that all Gohan had ever wanted to be was a normal child. He honestly didn't want all the things his father unceremoniously pawned off on him._

 _He wanted to enjoy his childhood with his family and friends but now that he was responsible for the world and his family but instead of being a child, he was forced to become a man at the tender age of thirteen._

 _Protecting the world and protecting his family should have been his father's responsibility, not his son's! But despite how all of this was pushed on him, he would not shy away from it because no matter how difficult it would get, He couldn't pawn off his responsibility on anyone like his father had done to him._

 _He would become strong enough to protect the earth; his family and friends far better than his father could but he would not let protecting the world consume him like it did his father._

 _He'd find a way to balance his duties as the savior of the world and the duties to his family at any cost._

 _"I see…" Vegeta said after a few moments of silence, a hint of understanding in his eyes._

 _"Boy, you have the spirit of the saiyan race within you," Vegeta told him with an arrogant smirk. "Very well, I will train you but there are two conditions to this…"_

 _Gohan looked at the prince with his undivided attention but he was not prepared for Vegeta to stand up off of the bed he was laying on and walk towards the window, slowly clasping his hands together behind his back._

 _"If I am to train you, fully train you, I will not only train you to hone your skills but I will train you in the way of the saiyan. Everything that I have learned in my life I will pass on to you but I need you to know…This will not be easy," Vegeta warned_

 _"I will push your mind, body and spirit to their breaking point and then beyond it. I will not only cram down all of the fighting techniques of the saiyans. I want you to give it your all. I want every single drop of your best in this. Anything else and I will kill you…"_

 _"I'm willing to do anything to protect my family and friends….You have my word that I will put one thousand percent behind my training from you…" Gohan responded with a bow of the head._

 _"Good…The second half of this training is more personal. I…I learned from Trunks that I died fairly young in his life," Vegeta started in a small murmur._

 _"He was barely one years old when the androids killed me In his timeline….I didn't get a chance to teach him all he needed to know to become a saiyan warrior but despite that, he managed to copy the ideals of your alternate version…It has made him powerful but I regret that I wasn't there to teach him what he needed…"_

 _Gohan was surprised._

 _He never knew that Vegeta had this kind of side to him._

 _He watched as the saiyan turned around to face him and said with a serious look on his face "During this time, I will teach you all about the Saiyan race. From the humble beginnings to its final day. You will learn all there is to know because If something should happen to me and I am unable to come back with the Dragonballs…I want you to pass down all that I have taught you during our sessions together to him."_

 _And without hesitation, Gohan gave a brisk nod and replied "Understood Teacher."_

 _And while Gohan wouldn't bring attention to it, He saw a bit of life appear in his new teacher's eyes._

 ** _End Flashback_**

* * *

And boy was Vegeta right.

Gohan had never been so thoroughly worn out in his life from Vegeta's lessons in both brutal training and a draining history lesson but despite his exhaustion, he continued to put one thousand percent into his training with not only the saiyan prince but his friends as well but that wasn't all.

Like he had promised his mother, Gohan also continued his studies and put his all behind that as well but unknown to Chi-Chi, Gohan was trying to find himself a job to support her and his little brother.

His father never knew this and never bothered to know this but she had a job in the recently named Hercule City as a chef and it showed every night she cooked him dinner but he knew that once she began to show, she would have to leave her job until his sibling was born.

But to his annoyance, there weren't a lot of jobs that a thirteen year old boy could have.

Even if he was the savior of the world.

So after a long study session, a beat down Gohan fell to the couch in the living room and flipped on the TV to see if anything interesting was on to watch and after a few channel flips, nothing of interest caught him until he happened to flip on a channel that made his eyes widen in surprise.

 _"Hello everyone, my name is Hercule Satan, the Hero of earth!"_ a tall muscular man with a black mustache, a large black afro, a five o'clock shadow, brown Gi, a pair of baggy white pants and a white cape said in a loud, goofy tone, causing Gohan to close his eyes in anger.

"Oh god, not this guy," Gohan said with a heated tone in his voice. Just a month ago, Gohan had found out through watching the news that Hercule had claimed that he was the one to defeat Cell and Gohan was furious at this. Who was this piece of shit to claim the victory which cost him the life of his father and nearly everyone that was there?

He was aching to find where he this guy loved to publicly beat and humiliate him because of this lie but Chi-Chi had talked him down from it, telling him that the world was better off in believing a lie due to her wanting privacy and also for other reasons that made sense to him but it still pissed him off to no end.

But little did he know, the news that his buffoon of a man was going to announce was going to make him grin.

 _"We need two hundred martial artists to sign up to compete in the first annual "Intergalactic Championship Tournament!" The winner of the tournament will face off with me, the world's strongest man to not only win my championship,"_ Hercule held up a large belt with a two golden plates on the side of a large golden plate that had a golden bat etched on it.

 _"But you will also be able to win One hundred million Yen but remember, you'll have to get through the world's strongest to obtain it so come downtown to the newly christened Hercule City to obtain your form to defeat me!"_ Gohan let a large smirk form on his face as Hercule let out a loud boisterous laugh on the TV screen.

Defeat two hundred men, defeat this buffoon all to win one hundred million Yen?

"Mother!" Gohan yelled out, grabbing his white coat from off the coat rack as he opened the door.

"I'm going downtown to Hercule city! I'll be back in ten minutes!"

* * *

 ** _Twenty Minutes Later_**

 ** _Hercule City_**

'This is really stupid….' A super saiyan Gohan thought to himself as he landed near the downtown area of the newly christened Hercule City. He had to admit that he shuddered heavily when he flew passed that sign. He really hoped this would be the one and only time he would come to this pathetic place that hailed a liar as a hero.

'Hercule City…What a pathetic place'

Landing on the roof near downtown, Gohan leapt from roof to roof all the way to the ground, not caring who would see him and walked towards town square where a large crowd of people stood in wait. _'Really?! All of these people?!'_ Gohan exclaimed in his head with a sad sigh following behind it.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan trudged through the crowd of people which was quite easily when he manipulated his Ki to blow anyone beside him away from his personal space. Once he got to the front, he felt something vibrating beneath his feet, causing him to quirk a brow in confusion but that confusion changed into irritation when someone screamed "It's Hercule!"

Looking up, Gohan saw a large stage rising out of the ground with Hercule standing on top of it with a white cape flapping in the wind behind him and the worst part was, there was a song playing in the background that was terrible catchy.

"Attention everyone! The champion of Earth has arrived!" Gohan heard Hercule scream to the crowd around him a large goofy grin on his face.

Gohan had to cover his ears due to the loud repeating screams of "Hercule!" going on around him from the crowds, quickly causing a look of irritation to form on his face, further making him hate the man on the stage but what really astounded him was that he could see fireworks high in the sky above the man, who had his right hand pointing to the sky.

 _'All of this for this liar?! Where's the damn justice in that?!'_ Gohan shouted in his head angrily while glaring at the man with heat in his eyes.

He had half of the mind to get on that stage and beat him until he screamed the truth but his mother wouldn't approve of such an action. He had to try and keep himself calm so he could get through this ordeal and leave as quickly as possible.

"Alright everyone, quiet down," He heard Hercule say into the microphone standing on a stand in front of him and like good puppies, the crowd immediately calmed down for the "Hero" of earth.

"Now I know everyone here wants to sign up for my tournament and we will certainly get to that but I just want to thank you all for that warm reception. It truly warmed my heart."

Gohan had no choice but to roll his eyes at this but what really made him face palm in shame was when he heard random people in the crowd talk about how humble or how sweet he was and truthfully, it made him even more annoyed. _'Just get through this Gohan…Don't cause a scene,'_ He thought to himself repeatedly.

But as he heard Hercule explain everything about his little tournament, Gohan found his ire rising to its limits.

Not only did Hercule keep deviating from the main reason Gohan was here by bragging about himself and his skills, but he continued to calm himself those words.

Champion of Earth.

This lying son of a bitch kept using the phrase that belonged to his father as well as himself and to hear Hercule constantly throw the phrase around was pissing him off greatly.

Goku had basically sacrificed everything, from basic social skills, his family and even his life in the end to protect the earth and he himself have already saved the earth by defeating Cell and seeing this man taking his victory while also dishonoring the "sacrifice" his father had made for him and to make matters worse, these people were so ignorant that they praised him.

They were not only praising a liar but they were praising a coward!

They were praising a man that basically hid behind a rock the entire time of the battle after his humiliating battle against Cell and the only time he barely showed that thing called "Courage" was when he bought Android Sixteen's head to Gohan when he was at his weakest and even then he could barely stop shaking.

And knowing that this coward of a man had taken his victory for his own was making him sick.

Despite himself, Gohan let a slow smirk form on his lips.

Maybe Vegeta had been on to something when he said that a saiyan's pride was worth more than anything.

After twenty-five more minutes of listening to Hercule's bravado, a truly enraged Gohan had to wait in a long line to sign up for the tournament and once it was his turn to sign the waiver to enter it, he paused.

Should he really do it?

Should he really fall into this idiot's tournament that looked as if it was promoting himself instead of everyone else?

He knew that his family will need the money since his mother was on maternity leave but his pride was telling him that he shouldn't allow himself to be a cog in the self-serving man's plan but in the end, he had to push aside his pride. Not only because of the money that he needed for his family but because this was the perfect chance to completely humiliate the man.

There was no way he, a demi-saiyan who saved the earth, could lose to anyone in this tournament.

After signing his name on the waiver, Gohan walked off to the side and quickly flew off into the air…

Not aware that a girl with a long pink dress, short black hair and crystal blue eyes had seen him fly into the sky.

* * *

 _ **Later that night**_

 _ **Satan Hercule**_

"Hey dad, guess what I saw today!"

Hercule, who was currently surrounded by his butlers and maids who were helping him get ready for a ball tonight glanced down at his fourteen year old daughter who had a wide grin on her face.

Hercule shook his head and turned his attention to the beautiful red haired maid who had discreetly placed a kiss on his cheek before she ran off but Hercule still regarded his daughter with a "Daddy is busy sweet pea, can this wait until I come home?"

"No way! It's really important," his daughter told him with a stern look on her face that instantly reminded him of her mother, who was currently sleeping in their bedroom upstairs.

Turning his head, Hercule pushed all of his helpers away and kneeled down to his daughter and asked her "Alright then, what is it that you want to tell me?"

But little did he know that she was going to drop a huge bombshell on his nearly perfect life as a champion of earth.

"I saw a blond boy flying in the air!"

* * *

XIII: And that's all for the second chapter of this fic! What will happen next? Find out on the next chapter of….Son Gohan: Champion of Earth


	3. Uneasy Feelings! Start of the tournament

XIII: I am so sorry about how long this took to get out but I've been out of town with lack of an internet but here I am and I'm ready to go!

* * *

 ** _Son Gohan: Champion of Earth_**

 ** _Chapter Two: Uneasy Feelings! Start of the tournament_**

"Son Gohan! How did you injury your palms?!"

Gohan felt his ears heat up in embarrassment as stood in front Bulma with a sheepish smile on his face, black smoke rising from his hands towards the ceiling above and blood flowing from various parts of his weakened body.

Gohan had been trying to create his own move due to not wanting to use his father's signature finisher, The Kamehameha wave and Vegeta had been helping him out in creating one.

The two seemed to have reached a breakthrough in creating a move for Gohan and even managed to use it in a brutal spare with each other but each time Gohan was forced to use it, his palms wound up being burned a few times.

Undeterred from this, Gohan continued the spare while using the attack more and more but soon, the pain had gotten to be too much for Gohan to stand so immediately after ending the battle, Vegeta had sent him inside to get healed and now, Gohan was standing before an angered and worried Bulma.

Something not even Vegeta could brave alone.

"I was working on a new move and well…This was the result," Gohan responded sheepishly, holding up his burned up palms to show her. Gohan watched as a small resigned look formed on her face before motioning for him to follow her to the healing tank.

"I don't see why you need to injure yourself Gohan," Bulma stated with a sigh leaving her lips as she popped open the healing tank and motioned for him to get inside of it. "I mean you have the Kamehameha wave. Why do you need to have something new?" Stepping into the tank with only a pair of skintight purple shorts, Gohan glanced at her.

He knew that she had grown up with Goku and even secretly had feelings for him for a long while before she had met Vegeta so he had a feeling that if he told her why he was doing it, she would defend him without a second thought but at the same time, she viewed himself as her nephew and often did everything she could to make him happy so honestly, Gohan decided that he would tell her all the same.

"I'm…I'm trying to distance myself from Goku…"

He didn't even have to glance at her to know she was completely shocked by his admission but not giving her a chance to talk, Gohan told her about the day Goku had decided to leave.

Knowing Vegeta, he probably never told Bulma about how it all went down since he was there.

Gohan told her about the words they traded and how upset he felt over it and Bulma just listened to him, wanting to get the full story but when he got to the part of the tale where he told his mother as well as found out that his mother was pregnant, the anger in Bulma's eyes were as clear as day.

"The nerve of him!" Bulma exclaimed while hooking up wires to his exhausted body. "How could Goku not even bother to say goodbye to his pregnant wife in the first place and then leave you as the messenger to deliver his goodbye message?!" Gohan nodded with a small sigh as he leaned back on the icy cold machine wall behind him.

"That's not all Bulma…All he wants to do is get stronger. That's all it's ever been about. If he wasn't offered to being trained by King Kai, he would have returned, I know it but instead, he came up with that bogus excuse that I poked many holes into…That's why I'm trying to create a new move. I can't stand using the move that a man who left his wife, his unborn child and under aged son alone in the world. I couldn't bear to speak those words knowing that he used them as well….I need this move to take my official first step as not only the protector of my family but for the world as well…."

As the water filled up around him, he watched as Bulma gave him a gentle smile as she murmured "Well if anyone can do that, it's you Gohan." And with that, Gohan let his eyes close just moments before the water incased his entire being.

He knew that Bulma had been shaken about what Goku had done to his family but despite him losing the love of his father with each day that has passed; he didn't want his friends to think negatively of him. He was a man who sacrificed a lot for the world and nothing, not even his family could ever take that away from him.

But after thinking that, his mind went to the tournament that was happening in a few days.

Gohan knew that this thing was going to be nothing short but a piece of cake. He was a boy who had been raised to fight with all he had by a Namekians, Saiyans and very powerful humans. Fighting a bunch of regular humans was nothing to worry about.

So why did he feel a sense of dread when he thought of that day?

Surely it wasn't because he felt he was going to lose to anyone.

Especially to that buffoon Hercule.

But something was off when he thought of the tournament but as his consciousness began to slip away, he decided to let it drop from his mind.

 _'Must be pre-tournament jitters…'_

But he shouldn't have jitters at all.

Gohan had been training with all of his friends and learned quite a bit from each of them. Yamacha had taught him how to control his Ki like he could. Tien taught him the Solar flare technique as well as the basis for Tien's ultimate move. Krillan and Piccolo however had been his main teachers. Both of them teaching him quite a bit in their moves though in Piccolo's case, he was sharpening up Gohan's moves.

Whatever the case may be...Gohan was on edge but he couldn't explain why. Shutting his eyes, Gohan decided that he would use this time in the healing tank to rest, hoping this feeling would disappear when he awakened.

* * *

 ** _Timeskip - Three days later_**

"Alright Gohan, We'll be rooting for you. Just promise to be safe!"

Gohan let a bashful smile form on his face as all the other competitors snickered around him. It had been an entire week since he signed up for Hercule's arrogant, self-promoting tournament.

He asked if anyone else wanted to join but Trunks was still nursing his injury from the war with Cell, Tien and Chiaotzu had left for training, Krillin and Android Eighteen had a date, Piccolo found the entire thing stupid but wished him luck and told him that he would be there if something went wrong and Yamacha retired from fighting altogether.

Even Vegeta declined the chance to fight.

Gohan didn't know if it was due to him sulking about Goku's death or deciding to spend time with his family but whatever the case was, Vegeta declined it so there Gohan stood, alone at Hercule's stupid tournament but at least his mother and Bulma came to cheer him on and as long someone rooted him on, he would be happy.

"Welcome to the Intergalactic Tournament of Champions! Dozens of fantastic warriors from all over the world have gathered here to become the sole Intergalactic Champion!"

Gohan's eyebrow twitched at the sound of the announcer's voice and merely drowned him out. As arrogant as this sounded in his head, none of the people here could really defeat him. All he could do is try to weaken himself enough so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. With that in mind, Gohan managed to snap out of his thoughts long enough to hear the wrap up of the rules.

And boy was the rules stupid.

All he had to do was survive being tilted off of a large disk and anyone else who did, he would have to force them off.

"This is such a waste of time…" Gohan muttered in annoyance as the ring began to tilt to the side, causing him to narrow his eyes and give a very Vegeta-like smirk.

"Time to go to work…"

* * *

 ** _Satan Hercule_**

Hercule was a wreck.

Ever since his daughter had told him about a blond boy flying off into the air, he had been on high alert for the boy's presence. He should have known that karma would strike down upon him like a bolt of lightning but he had been caught up in the lie he had made that he didn't even think of the ones that had truly saved the world.

And now, at the height of his lie, the boy had returned to fight in the tournament.

Was he after the victory money and the title of Intergalactic Champion or was the boy coming for his revenge against him for taking the victory that belonged to him? Either way, Hercule knew he was in trouble. Big trouble and there was no way for him to get out of it.

And the worst part was…

"Hey daddy, why are you sweating like that? Are you getting sick?"

Hercule gazed down at the sparkling blue eyes of his daughter and gave her a shaky smile.

He had bought his daughter along to watch the tournament.

At first, he did not want to bring her alone but his sickly wife asked him to bring her alone with him and despite all of the things he had done in their marriage, he still loved her enough to obey her requests so here was his wonderful daughter, who was currently bouncing up and down in her chair in excitement.

But not only for the fights.

She had expressed to him that she wanted to see the blond haired boy again for two reasons. One, she thought that he was very cute and two, she wanted to know how he could fly. That was all she would talk about nowadays and it was making him annoyed. He did not need his daughter having some crush with anyone, especially not the person that could ruin his life with both his fists and words.

"Hey daddy look, that boy is trashing everyone on the disk!" Videl exclaimed with a large grin on her face. Hercule immediately turned to the screen and saw a black haired boy completely tearing through the competition on the disk and felt his heart drop in horror. Despite the boy's hair being black, he knew that face anywhere.

He was here.

He was tearing through his opponents with ease.

This boy was going to kill him.

 _'This is not fair!'_ Hercule raged within his head, shuddering heavily in fear while his face paled completely. All that he had gained was going to be gone by the end of this day.

 _"And there we have it folks! We have our next competitors for the next round of the tournament!"_ Seeing the straight faced boy on the screen, Hercule was unable to take it anymore so without any fanfare, Hercule dashed out of his chair and towards the bathroom with his hand over his mouth.

He was going to be sick.

* * *

 ** _Son Gohan_**

If Gohan found the first part of the tournament too easy, he was straight up insulted now by the next round. All he had to do was sit in a pod that would transport him to a "Stage" where he would meet his opponent in battle. Considering the fact that the saiyan had flown on a cloud, knows how to fly without the cloud and even been in space, riding in a small pod was going to be slow by his standards.

Stepping into the pod, Gohan leaned back into the chair within it and let his mind drift off.

At least he was able to relax and speed through this embarrassment as fast as he could.

But as Gohan's pod speed through its tunnel, the feeling of dread that had formed within him during his time in the healing tank at Bulma's had returned with a sudden vengeance. He had put it off as a pre-tournament jitters but something was seriously wrong in this place.

But what?

What was causing his nervousness and his anger?

Gohan had a strong feeling that he was going to find out when his pod stopped at its destination and he wasn't going to like what he will find.

* * *

XIII: The next chapter shall be coming up very soon so until that time, I will see you guys later!


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